Less access to less information by and about the U.S. Government xxix: a 1997 chronology: June – December

ALA Washington Office Chronology

INFORMATION ACCESS

American Library Association, Washington Office

1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 403

Wasliington, D.C. 20004 -1701

Tel: 202-628-8410 Fax:202-628-8419 E-mail: alawash@alawash.org http://www.ala.org/washoff

December 1997

Less Access to Less

Information By and About

THE U.S. Government: XXIX

A 1997 Chronology: June - December

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010

http://www.archive.org/cletails/lessaccesstoless29amer

Less Access to Less Information By and About

THE U.S. Government: XXIX

A 1997 Chronology: June - December

contents

Introduction 4

JUNE

Federal agencies disagree about evidence regarding

veterans' illnesses 5

House Committee criticizes U.S. intelligence

agencies 5

Research needed before government databases can

be easily accessible to public 5

Army charged with destroying sex survey data 6

More troops were exposed to chemicals in area of

Iraqi dump 6

ALA joins in suit to preserve electronic federal

records 6

Right-to-knovv week celebrated 7

JULY

Freedom of Information Act implemented

unevenly 7

AUGUST

State Department implements 900 number for passport

information 8

CIA criticized for withholding information 8

Cold War deception fueled UFO controversy 8

Intelligence community delays release of historic

records 9

Privatizing the public's business deplored 10

SEPTEMBER

Gag ordered on Air Force readiness reports 10

Film makers warned about bomb blasts, but not the
general public 10

OCTOBER

CIA reveals U.S. intelligence budget $26.6

billion 11

Government contractor threatens to sue to prevent
release of transplant data 11

NOVEMBER

Compromise reached on sampling for the 2000

census 12

National Academy of Sciences exempted from

open access law 12

Plan revealed to blame Castro if Glenn mission

failed 12

National Archives destroys Naval Research

Laboratory' historical records 12

DECEMBER

Tape transcripts reveal Nixon White House media

strategy 13

U.S. role in melting Nazi gold revealed in long-secret

documents 13

U.S. argues that cutting would jeopardize Nixon

tapes 14

U.S. sued for violating Freedom of Information

Act 14

Tobacco industry turns over documents to

Congress 14

White House continues pattern of belated release

of subpoenaed material 15

Attorney General declines to hand over FBI memo

to Congress 15

Judge orders government to pay sanctions for with

holding information 15

A HANDFUL OF EXAMPLES ABOUT
"MORE ACCESS"

EPA plans expansion of "right-to-know" 16

Americans can provide more information about

themselves 16

Best federal government web sites chosen 16

Government Printing Office thrives in electronic age.. 17

The COGI Madison Awards honor champions of
the public's right to know 19

LESS ACCESS • JULY - DECEMBER 1997

Less Access to Less Information By and About

THE U.S. Government: XXIX

A 1997 Chronology: June - December

INTRODUCTION

For the past 16 years, this ongoing selective
chronology has documented efforts to restrict and
privatize government information. It is distrib-
uted as a supplement to the ALA Washington
Office Newsletter and as an electronic publication
at http://www.ala.org/washoff/lessaccess. While
government information is more accessible
through computer networks and the Freedom of
Information Act, there are still barriers to public
access. The latest damaging disclosures facing
the Clinton Administration involve allegations of
concealing information and claiming executive
privilege. Continuing revelations of Cold War
secrecy show how government information has
been concealed, resulting in a lack of public
accountability and cost to taxpayers.

Another development, with major implications
for public access, is the growing tendency of fed-
eral agencies to use computer and telecommunica-
tion technologies for data collection, storage,
retrieval, and dissemination. This trend has
resulted in the increased emergence of contractual
arrangements with commercial firms to dissemi-
nate information collected at taxpayer expense,
higher user charges for government information,
and the proliferation of government information
available in electronic format only. This trend
toward electronic dissemination is occurring in all
three branches of government. While automation
clearly offers promises of savings, will public
access to government information be further
restricted for people who cannot afford computers
or pay for computer time?

On the other hand, the Government Printing
Office GPO Access system and the Library of

Congress THOMAS system have enhanced public
access by providing free online access to govern-
ment databases.

Recognizing that some federal agencies are suc-
ceeding in using technology to enhance public
access to government information, this update
includes selected examples of such successes.

ALA continues to reaffirm its long-standing
conviction that open government is vital to a
democracy. A January 1984 resolution passed by
ALA's Council stated that "there should be equal
and ready access to data collected, compiled, pro-
duced, and published in any format by the govern-
ment of the United States."

In 1986, ALA initiated a Coalition on
Government Information. The Coalition's objec-
tives are to focus national attention on all efforts
that limit access to government information, and
to develop support for improvements in access to
government information. Since 1989, the
Coalition has presented the James Madison Award
to champions of the public's right to know. The
awardees are listed in this update.

With access to information a major ALA priori-
ty, library advocates should be concerned about
barriers to public access to government informa-
tion. Previous chronologies were compiled in two
ALA Washington Office indexed publications.
Less Access to Less Information By and About
the U.S. Government: A 1981-1987 Chronology,
and Less Access to Less Information By and
About the U.S. Government: A 1988-1991
Chronology. The following selected chronology
continues the tradition of a semi-annual update. ♦

ALA WASHINGTON OFFICE

CHRONOLOGY

JUNE

Federal agencies disagree about evidence regard-
ing veterans' illnesses

The Pentagon took the unusual step of disputing a
General Accounting Office draft report before it was
to have been released later the same month. The
GAO report asserted there is "substantial evidence"
that low-level exposure to poison gas weapons could
cause delayed or long-term ailments of Gulf War vet-
erans. The Pentagon and a presidential panel
appointed by President Clinton to look into the Gulf
War veterans' illnesses said the GAO had reached
different and unwarranted conclusions after analyzing
the same scientific research and data they had
reviewed.

In a 10-page rebuttal, Joyce C. Lashof, chair of the
Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War
Illness, said overall the GAO report "misrepresents"
her panel's work, is "lacking in substantiation and
analytic rigor," and makes statements that are "spe-
cious and misleading." The presidential advisory
committee concluded that "stress, rather than Iraqi
chemical and biological weapons, were the likely
cause of veterans' health problems." The GAO said
the panel had "overemphasized stress as a factor."

Like the Pentagon, members of the presidential
advisory committee have also been accused by veter-
ans advocates and others as part of a government-
wide coverup of the facts about Gulf War veterans'
illnesses. (Priest, Dana. "GAO Draft Report
Suggests Link Between Gas, Gulf Vets' Illness," The
Washington Post, June 17, 1997, A2.)

[Ed.Note: The 140-page General Accounting
Office report, Gulf War Illnesses: Improved
Monitoring of Clinical Progress and Reexamination
of Research Emphasis Are Needed (GAO/NSIAD-
97-163), can be found on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.gao.gov]

House Committee criticizes U.S. intelligence
agencies

The U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence
Committee criticized U.S. intelligence agencies in a
sharply written report on the fiscal 1998 intelligence
authorization bill. The report said the agencies have
"limited analytical capabilities" and an "uncertain
commitment and capability to collect human intelli-
gence on a worldwide basis through espionage." The
Committee also said the continued expenditure by the
Central Intelligence Agency of "billions" on high-
tech satellites is disturbing because it failed to allo-
cate adequate funds to review, analyze and present
the data to policy makers and military commanders
in a usable form. "Expending resources to collect
intelligence that is not being analyzed is simply a
waste of money," the report said.

The House panel pointed out that other countries
are learning how to block satellite coverage that "will
affect how the intelligence community collects infor-
mation and. ..what targets remain viable." Joining
earlier criticism by the Senate Intelligence
Committee, the House panel cited "a largely inexpe-
rienced work force, lack of foreign language skills
and limited in-country familiarity." (Pincus, Walter.
"Intelligence Community Faulted by House Panel,"
The Washington Post, June 19, 1997, A19.)

Research needed before government databases
can be easily accessible to public

According to a new report, "Toward the Digital
Government of the 21st Century," private industry
and government need to research how public infor-
mation can be aggregated, updated, and made easily
accessible through several World Wide Web sites.
Herbert Schorr, executive director of the University
of Southem California's Information Sciences
Institute, coauthor of the study, said: "The Internet
has exacerbated the expectations of people. We need
to provide citizens with more access to the informa-
tion the government has about them as well as other
data they seek."

The report states, "The federal government is still

LESS ACCESS • JULY - DECEMBER 1997

providing information services using technology that
is, in large measure, several generations behind the
current Intemet and Web style of information."
Among the things the authors recommend from the
government are: coordinate agency research so that
more government databases are compatible and sim-
pler to connect to the Net; create standards for main-
taining federal and local statistics so they can be easi-
ly combined and published online; allow data to be
seen using multiple interfaces; and build "virtual
agencies" so that people can access documents or
services. (Macavinta, Courtney. "Report:
Govemment files a mess," news.com, June 25, 1997
- http://www.news.com/News/Item/
0,4,11926,00.html)

Army charged with destroying sex survey data

A researcher charged a secretive Army panel look-
ing into sexual misconduct with destroying some
highly sensitive date it had collected from a survey of
9,000 troops. Leora Rosen, who works in the depart-
ment of military psychiatry at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center, said "the Panel's apparent intention
is to suppress this information in order to avoid mak-
ing the Army look bad." Rosen, who has filed a
whistleblower complaint with the Office of Special
Counsel, analyzed 613 surveys that escaped destruc-
tion. The data purged included questions about the
use of prostitutes and pomography in Army units.

"A spokesman for the Army confirmed that some
survey data had been destroyed. 'The raw data from
those sex questions no longer exists,' Col. John Smith
said." An Army statement said the questions
destroyed were "inflammatory and offensive and felt
by some soldiers to be an invasion of privacy to the
extent that some of them refused to comply with the
survey." Rosen said Army officials had spoken at a
panel meeting about the possibility of destroying all
the raw survey data, not just the most controversial
questions, in order to control how the results were
interpreted. The Army would not say whether the
raw data would be available in full, although the sur-
vey results will be released in some form.

The panel, appointed by Army Secretary Togo D.
West, Jr. after revelations of wide-spread sexual

abuse at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, has gone to
extraordinary' lengths to keep its work secret.
Madeline Morris, a Duke University law professor
who consulted with West, said the Army's actions
"raises questions about why the Army would elimi-
nate data they had already collected, rather than ana-
lyze it, when that data could be relevant to the ques-
tions they are asking: What causes sexual harass-
ment?" (Priest, Dana. "Army Panel Destroyed Data
on Sex Survey," The Washington Post, June 27, 1997,
A21.)

More troops were exposed to chemicals in area of
Iraqi dump

The Pentagon has again revised upward the num-
ber of troops estimated to have been exposed to an
Iraqi chemical dump when it was destroyed in the
1991. The estimate was said to be 27,000, up from
21,000 made earlier in 1997. Thousands of Persian
Gulf War veterans have complained of ills, but no
cause has been found for the complaints. Congress
has accused the Pentagon and White House of failure
to properly investigate the matter. (Reuter. "U.S.
Raises Estimate of Troops Near Iraqi Chemical
Arms, The Washington Post, June 27, 1997, A26.)

ALA joins in suit to preserve electronic federal
records

Several independent researchers and nonprofit
organizations, including the American Library
Association, filed a law suit in federal court against
the Archivist of the United States because he issued
guidance in 1995 that authorized govemment agen-
cies to destroy electronic mail and other computer-
ized records without regard for their content. The
regulation permits destruction of electronic records
once they have been copied on paper or some other
format and are "no longer needed for updating or
revision." The complaint sought to invalidate the
rule and accused Archivist John Carlin of abdicating
his responsibility to appraise the value of the elec-
tronic records on an agency-by-agency basis. "It's
the electronic shredder," protested one of the plain-
tiffs, author-researcher Scott Armstrong.

Justice Department lawyers argued that the regula-

ALA WASHINGTON OFFICE

tion was solidly grounded and that federal agencies
cannot have efficient records-management programs
if they cannot get rid of unneeded records. Justice
Department Attorney Anne Weismann said that "the
vast majority" of government agencies are not
equipped to preserve computer records in an elec-
tronic format. Public Citizen attorney Michael
Tankersley said, "The archivist has opened the flood-
gates, allowing agencies to destroy records without
regard for their historical value." (Lardner, George.
"Record-Destruction Order Assailed," The
Washington Post, June 28, 1997, A8.)

[Ed. Note: On October 22, U.S. District Court
Judge Paul Freidman ruled that the Archivist was
wrong to allow federal agencies routinely to destroy
the electronic versions of word processing and elec-
tronic mail records even if paper copies were made.
(Miller, Page Putnam. "Court Rules Against the
National Archives in Case on Regulations for
Destroying Electronic Records." NCC Washington
Update, vol. 3, #44, November 6, 1997.)

Right-to-know week celebrated

An editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle
announced that the American Society of Newspaper
Editors had designated "Your Right to Know Week"
to celebrate the First Amendment and sunshine laws
that help the public keep an eye on the inner work-
ings of government. It pointed out that with a few,
clearly defined exceptions, "there is relatively little
official business that legally can be kept secret from
the public. However, there continues to be a struggle
between reporters who always want more and
bureaucrats whose instincts are often to conceal,
especially information that might embarrass them or
their bosses." The editorial also said that the Internet
has brought new opportunities for government
access, and that the press and public must be alert to
new technology that can expand access to govern-
ment. ("Your Right to Know Week," San Francisco
Chronicle, June 30, 1997, Ml.)

JULY

Freedom of Information Act implemented
unevenly

After President Lyndon Johnson signed the
Freedom of Information Act in 1966, it was amended
in the 1970s to make it quicker and easier to use.
Since then its use has increased steadily, and current-
ly, about 600,000 FOIA requests are filed with the
federal government each year. Most experts estimate
that reporters file about 5 percent of the requests.
The act's users also include historians, prisoners and
individual citizens trying to find out such things as
what files the government has on them. John Fialka,
a Wall Street Journal reporter and author, writes that
60 percent of FOIA requests are filed by businesses
trying to gather information on competing firms. He
said it costs up to $100 million a year to carry out the
federal law, and believes fees for commercial users
should be sufficient to cover the law's overhead.
Otherwise, the law should be abolished, he said.

"The backlog of FOIA requests at some agencies
is so great that users often wait one to three years."
Some researchers and reporters have waited up to 10
years to have requests filled. The act's nine exemp-
tions cover national security, confidential business
information and records that would violate an indi-
vidual's privacy. Experts say the latter exemption has
been used increasingly to deny access to records.
"The approach that some agencies have taken is that
anything that has somebody's name on it will be
withholdable, either in whole or part," said Jane
Kirtley, executive director of the Reporters
Committee for Freedom of the Press. Tom Blanton,
director of the National Security Archive, has had to
battle the impulse of many agencies to deny requests
even when disclosure of records would appear harm-
less. Blanton said, "It's a reflexive secrecy. You tap
on a knee and the foot kicks out. You call an agency
and the top-secret stamp hits the page."

But the author says that some agencies are forth-
coming with records, like the Food and Drug
Administration, the Department of Health and
Human Services, and the Defense Department.

LESS ACCESS • JULY - DECEMBER 1997

7

Agencies notorious for responding slowly include the
State Department, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency.
(Armstrong, Ken. "The Trickle of Information Act Is
Closer to Truth," Chicago Tribune, July 4, 1997, 19.)

AUGUST

State Department implements 900 number for
passport information

Americans seeking passport information were
charged as much as $60 on their phone bills when
they called a 900 number operated by AT&T
Corporation. Unlike the 800 number system used by
agencies such as the Social Security Administration
and IRS, the 900 is not toll free. Customers are
charged 35 cents to hear basic recorded information
or $1.05 per minute to talk to a representative. The
telephone representatives no longer are employees of
the Department of State, but work on a contract
through AT&T. "This is a bad precedent to allow,"
said Representative Gary Ackerman (D-NY), "You
could wind up with every federal agency taxing the
citizenry a second time for basic information." Nyda
Budig, spokeswoman for the State Department's
Bureau of Consular Affairs, said privatizing the func-
tion improved service and saved most taxpayers
money by making users pay for it.

But critics of the contract arrangement think it
should be the department and not customers who pay
for the service. The House passed a State
Department authorization bill that would earmark $5
million to pay for 800 number lines to be run by the
contractors. Although similar language is not in a
comparable Senate bill, Ackerman said it may be
approved by budget negotiators. (Daniel, Lisa.
"Passport Office Charging Callers," Federal Times,
August 4, 1997,7.)

CIA criticized for withholding information

The New York Times criticized the CIA's withhold-
ing of information about its own files on crimes in

Latin America as truth commissions in several coun-
tries began to investigate the human rights abuses of
the past. At the same time, the New York Times
acknowledged that the CIA had released some
records on the 1954 military coup it organized in
Guatemala, and promised more coup records in the
months ahead.

But it has declassified practically nothing on the
security forces that have killed more than 1 10,000
Guatemalans since the coup. "Washington trained
and supported some of these forces. It also backed
abusive internal security organizations in Nicaragua,
Hpiti, Honduras and El Salvador. It owes the victims
of these groups whatever information it has." The
editorial concluded that the agency's continued secre-
cy serves to protect it from embarrassment.
("History That Remains Hidden," The New York
Times, August 5, 1997 - http://www.
newyorktimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/05tue3.html.)

Cold War deception fueled UFO controversy

According to CIA historian Gerald Haines, during
the 1950s and 1960s, the Air Force and CIA "willful-
ly misled" the public by claiming that thousands of
sightings of unidentified flying objects were caused
by ice crystals, temperature inversions and other nat-
ural causes, when actually they were produced by the
flight of super-secret spy planes. Writing in the
declassified version of Studies of Intelligence, Haines
concluded that more than half of all UFO sightings in
the United States for decades "were accounted for by
manned Reconnaissance flights."

During this time, believers in UFOs thrived on the
belief that the U.S. government covered up crucial
information about mysterious flying objects. Haines
said that in thousands of cases, they were right. His
study found that the government concocted the expla-
nations both to calm fears about UFOs and to main-
tain secrecy about its most advanced espionage air-
craft at the time, the U-2 and the SR-71 Blackbird.

National security officials justified their deception
"to allay public fears and protect an extraordinarily
sensitive national security project," wrote Haines.
"While perhaps justified, this deception added fuel to
the later conspiracy theories and the coverup contro-

8

ALA WASHINGTON OFFICE

versy" of later years. Questioned in early August
1997, Air Force Brig. Gen. Ronald Sconyers said, "I
cannot confirm or deny that we lied. The Air Force
is committed to providing accurate and timely infor-
mation within the confines of national security." The
spokesman said, "Corporately and institutionally,
there is no Air Force or Defense Department game
plan" currently in place to intentionally mislead the
public in order to conceal secrets. UFO experts and
government secrecy watch-dogs said the CIA study is
a refreshingly revealing document but unlikely to
repair the government's credibility problem among
those who believe that the government has tried to
conceal evidence of extraterrestrial visitors to Earth.
(Priest, Dana. "Cold War UFO Coverup Shielded
Spy Planes," The Washington Post, Augusts, 1997,
A4.)

Intelligence community delays release of historic
records

The annual report of the Historical Advisory
Committee (HAC) is highly critical of the intelli-
gence community, primarily the Central Intelligence
Agency, for maintaining barriers to opening the his-
torical record of United States foreign policy and
diplomacy. The government-appointed panel was
created following the embarrassment that resulted
from publication in the late 1980s of a volume of the
Federal Relations of the United States (FRUS) that
ignored the use by the U.S. government of covert
activities to influence U.S. -Iranian relations in the
mid-1950s . For four years the CIA has acknowl-
edged conducting at least eleven covert activities dur-
ing the Cold War, but has declassified enough infor-
mation to delineate U.S. foreign policy only in
British Guiana. As a result, a number of volumes of
the FRUS are delayed awaiting the outcome of
repeated declassification appeals.

The report states that "a number of FRUS compila-
tions now stand in never-never land, and the HAC is
forced to contemplate recommending against publica-
tion because the thirty-year old historical record is or
will fall grossly short of a complete record including
the relevant intelligence involvement." The
Committee said it is "increasingly disinclined" to

resort to stating in Prefaces to the FRUS that the vol-
ume in question constitutes an inaccurate and incom-
plete record when the Committee "knows that the
documentary record is or is likely to be available in
government archives." The Committee said many
covert activities have been revealed in various offi-
cial (e.g. Congressional hearings) and semi-official
(memoirs by CIA agents) sources. "Such a compro-
mise is especially ludicrous with regard to the specif-
ic covert activities now acknowledged by the CIA."

The Report of the Advisory Committee on
Historical Diplomatic Documentation to the United
States Department of State is in the form of a June
26, 1997, letter to Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright from Warren F. Kimball, Chair. The report
came weeks after the CIA acknowledged it had
destroyed some records of covert activities undertak-
en in the 1950s and 1960s but the agency said
destruction was to clear out shelf space, not to con-
ceal its activities. CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield
said "The reason why information would be withheld
concerns protection of sources and methods." But
Dr. Kimball said the committee was not trying to
publish such sensitive information. (Haworth, Karla.
"Committee of Historians Says CIA Balks at
Releasing 30-Year-Old Documents," The Chronicle
of Higher Education, August 11, 1997 - Academe
Today electronic news service.)

[Ed. Note: The report is available online at:
http:/Avww.fas. org/sgp/advisory/hac96.html]

Privatizing the public's business deplored

In an opinion piece, Robert Kuttner said: "A hall-
mark danger of this era is that the public's business is
becoming privatized. Industry wants to replace pub-
lic agencies and public processes with private con-
tractors and private deals. And there is far too little
public protest." He observed that the Food and Drug
Administration appears to be "public enemy number
one." As an example of efforts to weaken the FDA,
he pointed to the proposed tobacco accord reached
through secret negotiations. Kuttner said "a group of
self-appointed spokesmen for the public's health and
some state attorneys general, lured by the prospect of

LESS ACCESS • JULY - DECEMBER 1997

a large payment from the tobacco industry, have cut a
proposed deal that limits the industry's total liability
for damages and reins in the FDA."

Kuttner then pointed to efforts by the medical
device industry to limit the ability to ensure the safe-
ty and efficacy of everything from artificial heart
valves to super-tampons. The $50-billion-a-year
medical device business is one of America's most
profitable. He said this industry hopes to get
Congress to pass legislation that would partly priva-
tize the FDA's function of certifying safe products.
"Instead of having to pass muster with the FDA, a
manufacturer could submit a new product to a private
review firm selected by the very company seeking
approval." And these same private consultants could
do other contract work for the device manufacturers,
setting up a conflict of interest.

Kuttner asked: "What entrepreneur would put
other business at risk by vetoing a client's new prod-
uct application?" The author maintained that instead
of trying to cripple the FDA, industry should be
thankful for it since the FDA offers their products a
worldwide seal of approval that consumers can trust-
contributing to the industry's global preeminence.
(Kuttner, Robert. "Privatizing the Public's Business,"
The Washington Post, August 29, 1997, A23.)

SEPTEMBER

Gag ordered on Air Force readiness reports

Louis Finch, Defense Department deputy under-
secretary for readiness, issued a gag order to his staff
who go on field trips to assess military readiness. In
the August 7 memorandum he also reserved the right
to declare secret what they learn. According to his
ground rules, trip information:

• "Will not contain editorializing, opinions or spec-

ulations of team members or others."

• "Will not be transferred electronically among

participants or shared with others without my
consent."

• "Will not be printed on letterhead, contain refer-

ence to intended recipient or indicate coordinat-
ing officials until it is in final form."
• "Will not contain the names of anyone visited in

the field."
Finch's memo was issued after a draft "trip report"
concluded "limited wartime sortie generation capabil-
ity exists today" in the Air Force because so many
planes can't fly for lack of engines and spare parts.
The report also said morale was low among active-
duty personnel and that they distrust senior leaders.
(Wilson, George C. "Gag Order Issued on Readiness
Reports," Federal Times, September 1, 1997, 11.)

Film makers warned about bomb blasts, but not
the general public

During the 1950s, the government assured the
public that there was no health threat from atmos-
pheric nuclear tests. Yet at the same time, the
Atomic Energy Commission regularly warned film
manufacturers about fallout that could damage their
products according to a review of documents made
public as part of an "openness initiative" by former
Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary. The nonprofit
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research said
Eastman Kodak had threatened to sue the Atomic
Energy Commission when some of its film was
fogged before use and the problem was traced to fall-
out from U.S. and Russian nuclear tests. The AEC
then promised to warn Kodak about future tests.

The National Cancer Institute said in August that
fallout from the blasts had probably caused 10,000 to
75,000 extra thyroid cancers. Senator Tom Harkin
(D-IA) said, "It really is odd that the Government
would warn Kodak about its film but it wouldn't
warn the general public about the milk it was drink-
ing." Iodine- 13 is absorbed by cows and incorporat-
ed into milk. In humans, it concentrates in the thy-
roid gland, where it can cause cancer. Senator
Harkin said that part of his thyroid was removed 17
years ago and that his brother died of thyroid cancer
last year. (Wald, Matthew L. "U.S. Alerted Photo
Film Makers, Not Public, About Bomb Fallout," The
New York Times, September 30, 1997, A18.)

[Ed. Note: The final fallout report of the National

10

ALA WASHINGTON OFFICE

Cancer Institute is available online at
http://rex.nci.nih.gov/massmedia/Fallout/
index, html]

OCTOBER

CIA reveals U.S. intelligence budget $26.6
billion

After 50 years of secrecy, under pressure from a
Freedom of Information law suit, the CIA disclosed
that the United States spends $26.6 billion a year on
intelligence matters. The agency, which itself spends
about $3 billion a year, oversees a covertly appropri-
ated sum from which billions are drawn by other
government intelligence agencies including the
National Security Agency and the National Imagery
and Mapping Agency. CIA director George Tenet
said the disclosure "does not jeopardize" national
security and "serves to inform the American people."
Kate Martin, the attorney who filed the law suit, said:
"now we can begin to have some real democratic
debate on the size of the intelligence budget. The
C.I.A.'s refusal to disclose the figure didn't protect
national security. It shut citizens out of the debate
about the usefulness and future of the C.I. A."
Martin, director of the Center for National Security
Studies, filed the suit on behalf of the Federation of
American Scientists' government secrecy project.
(Weiner, Tim. "For First Time, U.S. Discloses
Spying Budget," The New York Times, October 16,
1997,27)

Government contractor threatens to sue to
prevent release of transplant data

The United Network for Organ Sharing, a private
group that operates the national organ donor network,
is threatening to sue the federal government to pre-
vent the release of data on individual heart and kid-
ney transplant centers. The Richmond, VA-based
contractor oversees the organ allocation system com-
piles information about organ transplants that is sub-
mitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. The records include median waiting times

and the numbers of organ offers that are tumed down
both for medical and non-medical reasons. The
requests for the records were filed by The Plain
Dealer under the FOIA in June 1996. Since then the
Detroit Free Press, ABC news and two grassroots
transplant groups have made similar requests. On
October 16, federal officials informed UNOS that
they will release the data unless a federal judge
orders otherwise.

Charles E. Fiske of the National Transplant Action
Committee asked, "But what is UNOS there for? Is it
there to protect patients or to protect the institu-
tions?" (Wendling, Ted, Dave Davis and Joan
Mazzolini. "Organ donor group threatens suit to
keep files private," The Plain Dealer [OH], October
31, 1997, 10-A.)

[Ed. Note: In mid-November, under threats that the
government was preparing to release turndown data
for organ transplants, UNOS' board voted unani-
mously to release the information. (Wendling, Ted,
Dave Davis and Joan Mazzolini. "Florida, California
lead in organ tumdowns," The Plain Dealer [OH],
November 21, 1997, lA.)

NOVEMBER

Compromise reached on sampling for the 2000
census

Following months of controversy about the poten-
tial use of sampling in the 2000 census, the White
House and Republican Congressional leaders reached
a compromise on the use of the politically sensitive
statistical technique. They agreed to allow the
Administration to experiment with statistical sam-
pling to achieve a more accurate count but gave
Republicans time and resources to challenge the tech-
nique in court. The issue has been controversial
because it could affect the future political composi-
tion of the House of Representatives.

House Republican leaders have opposed the
Administration's planned use of statistical sampling

LESS ACCESS • JULY - DECEMBER 1997

11

to supplement traditional person-by-person head
counts, fearing the technique could be used to pro-
duce more House districts dominated by racial
minorities, who tend to vote for Democrats. They
also argue that sampling is unconstitutional. The
Administration and Congressional Democrats argued
that minorities traditionally have been undercounted
in the decennial census and that by using statistical
sampling, undercounting will be reduced. The com-
promise helped clear the way for final passage of the
FY 1998 appropriations bill for the Departments of
Commerce, Justice and State. (Pianin, Eric and
Helen Dewar. "Congress Also Clears FDA Changes,
Works Late on Spending Bills," The Washington
Post, November 10, 1997, A04.)

National Academy of Sciences exempted from
open access law

Congress passed legislation to exempt the National
Academy of Sciences from a law mandating open
access to its deliberations and federal oversight of its
committees, but the Academy "will have to provide
extensive public information about many aspects of
its work." Activist groups argued in law suits that
the NAS committees, which traditionally are appoint-
ed without public consultation and conduct key meet-
ings in private, violated the 1972 Federal Advisory
Committee Act. That law requires open meetings,
"balanced" committee membership and federal over-
sight for organizations that advise the federal govem-
ment.

The NAS countered that Congress never intended
the FACA to apply to the Academy, which must
apply its own professional standards for committee
membership and maintain confidentiality in meetings
to ensure that its advice is "independent from govern-
ment..as well as from potential outside political and
special-interest pressures." (Suplee, Curt. "Congress
Addresses Access to Academy of Sciences," The
Washington Post, November 17, 1997, A21.)

Plan revealed to blame Castro if Glenn mission
failed

Previously classified records revealed that had
John Glenn's space flight in February 1952 failed,

American military planners were thinking of blaming
Fidel Castro. The operation was called Operation
Dirty Trick, and according to long-secret documents
recently made public, the idea was "to provide irrev-
ocable proof that, should the MERCURY manned
orbit flight fail, the fault lies with the Communists et
al Cuba." The planners suggested in a February 2,
1962, memo that this could be accomplished "by
manufacturing various pieces of evidence which
would prove electronic interference on the part of the
Cubans." (Lardner, George, Jr. and Walter Pincus.
"Military Had Plan to Blame Cuba If Glenn's Space
Mission Failed," The Washington Post, November
19, 1997, A2.)

National Archives destroys Naval Research
Laboratory historical records

Archivist of the United States John Carlin has
ordered an investigation into the destruction by the
National Archives of records that the Naval Research
Laboratory considered of permanent historical value.
Carlin said, "If the process is flawed, or the evalua-
tion criteria are inadequate, then obviously the situa-
tion must be fixed." Paul Gaffney, the Chief of
Naval Research, wrote to Carlin on November 13,
stating that "the historical record of our nation's sci-
entific and technical heritage has suffered a serious
and irreparable loss." The destroyed records includ-
ed material that documented the work of the pioneers
of American radar, path-breaking acoustic and
oceanographic research, early sonar research, the first
U.S. satellite program, and the early rocket-based
astronomical research.

Gaffney contends that Naval Research Laboratory
personnel received no notification of the National
Archives' plan to destroy these records they consid-
ered permanently valuable and which constituted the
core of the agency's corporate memory. Carlin con-
tends the records were destroyed following proce-
dures established years ago for evaluating naval labo-
ratory records, and that National Archives staff did
not consider the destroyed material to meet the tests
for permanent value. Carlin pointed out that the
Navy had been notified about the pending destruction
and had "raised no objection." (Miller, Page Putnam.

12

ALA WASHINGTON OFFICE

"Archivist Orders an Investigation of Recent
Destruction of Naval Laboratory Records," NCC
Washington Update, vol. 3, #46, November 19,
1997.)

DECEMBER

Tape transcripts reveal Nixon White House media
strategy

Transcripts of Nixon White House tapes released
in October further reveal a President obsessed with
efforts to improve his image and eagerly plotting to
discredit his detractors. The National Archives
released 200 hours of conversations after a long court
battle. In a July 2, 1971, tape recorded discussion
with aide Charles Colson, Nixon said the best way to
intimidate the nation's three major television net-
works was to keep the constant threat of an antitrust
suit hanging over them. Colson played a major role
in pressuring the news media to change their critical
coverage of the Nixon Administration. Colson told
Nixon "keeping this case in a pending status gives
one hell of a club on an economic issue that means a
great deal to those three networks. ..something of a
sword of Damocles."

Nixon responded, "Our gain is more important
than the economic gain. We don't give a goddamn
about the economic gain. Our game here is solely
political. ...As far as screwing them is concerned, I'm
very glad to do it." The White House kept the
Justice Department from filing suit until April 1972
when the government accused the networks of
monopolizing prime-time entertainment with their
own programs. The suits were dismissed in 1974
after the Nixon White House refused to turn over
subpoenaed records. (Pincus, Walter and George
Lardner Jr. "Nixon Hoped Antitrust Threat Would
Sway Network Coverage," The Washington Post,
December 1, 1997, A 1.)

U.S. role in melting Nazi gold revealed in long-
secret documents

"According to long-secret documents that the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York plans to release

to a conference of historians tracking Nazi gold," in
1952 the United States melted down gold plates, but-
tons, coins and smoking-pipe omaments that were
apparently looted from Hitler's victims. The gold
bars were then turned over to European central
banks. Jewish groups and the United States
Government plan to use the documents to press their
case that $54 million in gold remaining in the posses-
sion of the Tripartite Commission for the Restitution
of Monetary Gold, the panel assembled to return
looted assets to central banks, should be given to
Holocaust survivors and their heirs.

Other recently declassified documents from
American archives reveal details from recent investi-
gations of the trail of wartime assets that have now
spanned the globe. For example, a declassified
coded message released by the National Security
Agency shows what happened to millions of dollars
paid by the United States and Switzerland for the
care of prisoners of war held by the Japanese. The
newly released transcript of a coded message written
by Swiss officials — the neutral country that handled
the funds — shows that a secret deal was reached in
August 1944 by Swiss and Japanese officials to
divert 40 percent of those funds to pay off Japan's
debts to Swiss businesses. (Sanger, David E. "U.S.
Melted Down Gold Items from Nazis," The New York
Times, December 1, 1997, A8.)

U.S. argues that cutting would jeopardize Nixon
tapes

A federal court ordered the National Archives to
return all "personal or private conversations" on the
Nixon White House tapes to the late president's
estate. In an appeal brief Justice Department lawyers
said this would jeopardize "virtually all" of the 950
reels of tape from the Nixon presidency that
Congress confiscated by law in 1974 to keep Nixon
from destroying them. The Justice Department said
that it has no obligation to cut out portions of the
tapes to satisfy the demands of Nixon's estate.
Nixon's privacy interests, the Justice brief said, will
be preserved because the original tapes will be kept
intact in a special vault, without any provision for
public access. A hearing is scheduled for late

LESS ACCESS • JULY - DECEMBER 1997

13

February. (Lardner, George Jr. "U.S. Argues Against
Return of Excerpts of Nixon Tapes," The Washington
Post, December 2, 1997, A17.)

U.S. sued for violating Freedom of Information
Act

Public Citizen filed a federal lawsuit in U.S.
District Court for the District of Columbia to enforce
recent federal statutes designed to make it easier for
the public to obtain access to govemment informa-
tion. The suit charged that seven major federal agen-
cies have not complied with statutes requiring that
they make available guides and indices to help the
public obtain agency records. "The Clinton
Administration has failed to live up to its commit-
ment to make govemment information more open to
the public...," said Michael Tankersley, the Public
Citizen Litigation Group attorney who filed the suit.

In 1995, Congress directed all federal agencies to
compile a "current and complete inventory: of their
information resources, including directories that
could be used to establish an electronic service for
locating major govemment information systems. The
following year, in the Electronic Freedom of
Information Act Amendments, Congress directed
agencies to make available a guide containing an
index with a description of all major information and
record locator systems and a handbook describing
how to obtain information from these systems under
the FOIA and other statutes.

According to Public Citizen, the Office of
Management and Budget was supposed to take a
leadership role in implementing these requirements.
But many agencies, including 0MB, have ignored
these mandates. The seven agencies named as defen-
dants are 0MB; the Office of Administration in the
Executive Office of the President; the Office of the
U.S. Trade Representative; the Department of
Education; the Department of Energy; the
Department of Justice; and the Department of State.
"This lawsuit will force these agencies to give the
public the tools needed to navigate through the
bureaucratic corridors of cyberspace," said Lucinda
Sikes, another Public Citizen working on the case.
(Public Citizen press release. "Federal Agencies

Violating Freedom of Information Act, Lawsuit
Alleges," December 4, 1997.)

[Ed. Note: The press release is available online at
http:/Avww. citizen, org/foi asuit.htm]

Tobacco industry turns over documents to
Congress

A dramatic confrontation between Representative
Thomas Bliley (R-VA) and the tobacco industry has
resulted in a cache of sensitive intemal company doc-
uments being turned over to a Congressional commit-
tee— a departure from years of legal maneuvering to
keep industry secrets hidden. Over 800 documents
were delivered to Congress, less than 24 hours after
Bliley, a long-time industry supporter, issued a sub-
poena for them. "Today's development will give
Congress the information it needs to make more
informed and responsible decisions" on the proposed
settlement, Bliley said.

The documents were not released publicly, howev-
er, and Bliley gave no indication of when that might
happen, saying only that the committee will establish
"a bipartisan process for reviewing and disclosing"
them. "These documents are only the tip of the ice-
berg," said Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). And
Minnesota Attomey General Hubert H. Humphrey
said, "The smoking guns are trickling out, but the
smoking howitzers remain under lock and key."
Matthew Myers, of the National Center for Tobacco-
Free Kids, said he hoped that Bliley's comments were
not an indication that the documents would be kept
private. "It's as important for the American public to
see these documents as for Congress — so that the cit-
izens of the country can make an informed decision
about what Congress should do," Myers said. (Torry,
Saundra and John Schwartz. "Tobacco Industry
Delivers Documents to Congress," The Washington
Post, December 6, 1997, A9.)

White House continues pattern of belated release
of subpoenaed material

Throughout the summer and fall of 1997, many
articles have appeared in the press about the belated
released of subpoenaed material to Congress, includ-

14

ALA WASHINGTON OFFICE

ing video tapes, concerning President Clinton's fund-
raising activities for the 1996 presidential campaign.
This article is about notes taken in the White House
during discussions of the growing campaign finance
controversy. Although the notes appear to add little
to the ongoing campaign finance investigations, they
could become a new source of controversy for the
Clinton Administration. White House spokesman
Lanny J. Davis said he could not explain the delay in
finding the notes, which he acknowledged fall within
the scope of subpoenas for materials relating to fund-
raising in the White House that were issued as long
ago as March 24. (Schmidt, Susan. "White House
Gives Aide's Notes to Congress," The Washington
Post, December 9, 1997, A6.)

Attorney General declines to hand over FBI
memo to Congress

Attomey General Janet Reno refused to comply
with a Congressional subpoena for a confidential
memorandum in which FBI Director Louis Freeh
urged her to seek an independent counsel in the cam-
paign finance scandal. The House Government
Reform and Oversight Committee, having called
Reno and Freeh to testify at a hearing on December
9, sought the memorandum as part of its investiga-
tion of Reno's handling of the independent counsel
issue. Reno declined to provide the document, point-
ing to the need to protect an ongoing investigation
and to preserve the confidentiality of the decision-
making process within the Department of Justice.
(Suro, Roberto. "Reno Declines to Hand Over Freeh
Memo," The Washington Post, December 9, 1997,
A6.)

Judge orders government to pay sanctions for
withholding information

In a follow-up to a "Less Access" item from four
years ago, a federal judge ordered the U.S. govern-
ment to pay sanctions of $285,864 for the "dishon-
est" and "reprehensible" conduct of the White House
and Justice Department in failing to reveal to the
court key information about the membership of the
health care reform task force chaired by Hillary
Rodham Clinton. "[I]t is clear that the decisions here

were made at the highest levels of government, and
the government itself is-and should be-accountable
when its officials run amok," U.S. District Court
Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote in his opinion. "It
seems that some government officials never learn
that the cover-up can be worse than the underlying
conduct." (Locy, Toni. "Govemment Ordered to Pay
Sanctions for Dishonest About Health Care Task
Force," The Washington Post, December 19, 1997,
A21.)

A handful of examples are also avail-
able about '^More Access" during
this same period:

EPA plans expansion of "right-to-know"

The Environmental Protection Agency
announced plans for an ambitious project to expand
its "right-to-know" initiatives so that people who
live near hundreds of factories in five major indus-
tries can have easy online access to additional data
about the pollution from those plants. This is the
first time, profiles of the environmental perfor-
mance of the producers of oil products, steel, other
metals, autos and paper have been made available,
indicating which factories may present the biggest
environmental problems.

Industries argued the evaluation is misleading.
The project expands on the Toxics Release
Inventory, an annual survey, published online and
in printed reports, that has been credited with
encouraging companies to voluntarily control their
pollution.

The new project is called the Sector Facility
Indexing Project, but the affected industries consid-
er it the Scarlet Letter Initiative, because they fear
that it will unfairly identify some of them as pol-
luters. The industries are trying to block the pro-
ject, arguing that the release of the information will
confuse and alarm the public. (Cushman, John H.
Jr. "E.P.A. Is Pressing Plan to Publicize Pollution
Data," 77?^ New York Times, August 12, 1997,
http://new york times.com/library/cyber/week/
081297pollute.html)

LESS ACCESS

JULY - DECEMBER 1997

15

Americans can provide more information about
themselves

The Clinton Administration announced that for
the first time Americans will be able to choose
more than one racial category to describe them-
selves on census and other federal forms. The deci-
sion ends a long-standing practice of requiring peo-
ple to identify themselves as a member of only one
racial group despite growing complaints that the
nation's racial composition is increasingly diverse.
"This gives far more flexibility for people to
express their multiracial heritage," said 0MB
Director Franklin Raines. How the census collects
data is important because the numbers are used to
redraw political boundaries, enforce civil rights
protections and administer many programs that
depend on racial data.

In the last census, Americans could mark just
one box and were given these choices: white, black,
American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut or several Asian or
Pacific Islander groups. The result was a set of
population figures that could be neatly tabulated,
but left many dissatisfied at being forced to choose
one heritage over another. Nearly 10 million
Americans marked "other" rather than choose one
of the basic categories. In the 2000 census people
can check off as many categories as they like,
yielding a much more complex view of the
American population. (Vobejda, Barbara. "Census
Expands Options for Multiracial Families," The
Washington Post, October 30, 1997, All.)

Best federal government web sites chosen

Joyce Kasman Valenza, a high school librarian,
wrote an article for a Philadelphia newspaper fea-
turing a number of local, state, and federal govern-
ment web sites she considered among the best that
exemplify Thomas Jefferson's axiom, "Whenever
the people are well-informed, they can be trusted
with their own government." Valenza said: "To
Jefferson, an informed citizenry was essential to the
proper functioning of a democracy. Self-govern-
ment would not be possible unless citizens were
well-educated and had free access to information.
Jefferson would have really liked the World Wide

Web." She observes that young citizens can read
the actual texts of laws, speeches, judicial deci-
sions, and, of course, political propaganda. Among
the best of the federal executive and legislative
branch web sites she chose are:

• http://www.whitehouse.govAVHAVelcome.html

• http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/kids/html/
kidshome.html

• http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/pubs.html

• http://www.state.gov/www/
background-notes/index. html

• http://www.state.gov/www/regionsdigital.html

• http.// www. census, gov

• http://thomas.loc.gov/

• http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
The judicial branch is represented by a web site

hosted by Northwestern University, instead of the
federal government. It is a multimedia database of
U.S. Supreme Court information:
http://oyez.at.nwai.edu/oyez.html

(Valenza, Joyce Kasman. "Sites That Provide
Government Information to the People: Laws,
Speeches and Court Decisions Are Among a
Wealth of Documents at Local, State and Federal
Levels," Philadelphia Inquirer, November 13,
1997, F04.)

Government Printing Office thrives in electronic
age

The Government Printing Office, the federal
government's publisher, has used new technology to
make information available to the public so effec-
tively that Congress has considered changing the
agency's name to reflect the cyberspace age. Eric
Peterson, staff director of the Joint Committee on
Printing, said GPO has "been on the forefront of
helping the government emerge from the classic
printing environment to electronic information
access." For example, before GPO made the
Federal Register available on the Internet in 1994,
government presses printed 33,000 copies a night at
an average of 225 pages per issue. Currently, GPO
prints 23,000 paper copies, while 1 million copies
are downloaded every month from the Internet.
Federal laws, the United States Code, fill 35 bound

16

ALA WASHINGTON OFFICE

volumes that cost about $2,000. The same informa-
tion fits on one compact disc that sells for $37. At
the same time, sales of the disc have fallen since
GPO made the United States Code available on the
Internet for free.

Senator John Warner (R-VA), who chairs the
Joint Committee on Printing, wants GPO to ensure
that all government documents are made accessible
to the public, especially through electronic formats
at libraries. Warner wants to channel all federal
government publications printed by a private busi-
ness or other another agency through GPO's
Superintendent of Documents. "Free and open
access to information created at taxpayer expense is
the principle which has enabled the United States to
endure and prosper for over 200 years," Warner
said. (Johnson, Mark. "Venerable GPO thrives in
cyberspace," Richmond Tunes Dispatch, November
30, 1997, A2.)

[Ed. Note: The GPO Access system is found at:
http://www. access.gpo.gov]

SeiTii-annual updates of this publication have been compiled in two indexed volumes covering tlie periods April 1981-December
1987 and Januaty 1988-Deccmber 1991. Less Access... updates are available for $1.00; the 1981-1987 volume is $7.00; the 1988-
1991 volume is $10.00. To order, contact the American Librarv' Association Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
#403, Washington. DC 20004-1701; 202-628-8410, f;ix 202-628-8419. All orders must be prepaid and must include a self-
addressed mailing label.

LESS ACCESS • JULY - DECEMBER 1 997

17

The COGI Madison Awards
honor champions ofthepublic^s right to know

Since 1988, the Coalition on Government Information has celebrated Freedom of Information
Day, March 16, the birth date of fourth President James Madison. Established in 1989 by the
Coalition and the National Security Archive, the award is presented annually to honor those who
have championed, protected and promoted public access to government information and the pub-
lic's right to know. The Coalition, initiated in 1986 by the American Library Association, is com-
posed of public interest and library organizations united in their concern about the public's right to
be well informed about the activities of the federal government.

Recipients of the James Madison Award:

1997 Philanthropist and financier George Soros

1996 The National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council

1995 The Government Printing Office, the State of Maryland's Sailor Project, the Seatde

(WA) Public Library, and the Internet Multicasting Service's Town Hall Project
1994 Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary and former ALA Washington Office Director Eileen

D. Cooke
1993 The legislators who led the passage of PL. 103-40, the GPO Access Act: Vice President

Al Gore, original sponsor of the GPO Gateway to Government Act when he was in the

Senate; Senators Wendell Ford (D-KY) and Ted Stevens (R-AK); Representatives

Charlie Rose (D-NC) and Bill Thomas (R-CA)
1992 Journalist Nina Totenberg, author Scott Armstrong, and C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb
1991 Representative Don Edwards (D-CA)
1990 Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), journalist

Philip Shabecoff , and the Office of Toxic Substances of the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency
1 989 Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Honorary citations also were presented to several individuals and organizations in 1996 and 1997.

The Coalition seeks nominations for the annual Madison Award and for honorary citations in
December of each year. Send nominations to:

Coalition on Government Information

c/o of American Library Association Washington Office

1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Suite 403

Washington, D.C. 20004

tel: 800-941-8478

fax: 202-628-8419

e-mail: alawash@alawash.org

LESS ACCESS • JULY - DECEMBER 1997

19